Marathon 2 Training - 23 miles!

I was up at 2:45 this morning, decked out in all pink -- including my super hero running skirt and pink glow-in-the dark bracelet, and looking forward to tackling 23 miles at 3:30 am. The air was cool, and I knew it'd be a great morning.

We started with a group of 10, pretty big considering the early start, which helped the time fly as I had lots of people to talk to. The first 10 miles were nice and easy at 1:1 intervals; I felt great after that loop. We circled back to the school at 6 am to pick up 5 more runners and drop off 2, so now there were 13 of us, and we switched intervals to ran the next 10 miles at 2:1. I started to feel sore and tired somewhere after mile 16, but pressed on. I was still running strong and picking up the pace a bit as we went along, so I know it was more mental fatigue than physical. We returned to the school twice, and after 20 miles switched intervals once again. We finished the last 3 using 2:30/1 intervals and I was still able to pick the pace a bit more.

Despite having to return to the start several times, keeping the stops as short as possible really helped with my motivation and not let my legs get tight. I was sore, tired and mentally done when the 23 miles where done but I still felt strong and like I could have run 3.2 more if I had to. I fueled like clockwork, eating a gel and endurolyte pill every hour, and it worked great. I also re-applied body glide after 10 miles, and nothing is chafe this time. Yay!

After the 23 miles, we walked a lap around the track to cool off, then I did 25 minutes of yoga as soon as I got home. It really hurt at first because I was very sore, but I felt great when I finished and really glad I took the time to do it. After a shower, I put on my compression leg sleeves and compression capris with ice packs, and quickly started feeling back to normal. I've been doing laundry and napping between loads, but I think there is another nap in my very near future :) 

Fun stats about this run:

Total: 23.03 miles, time w/breaks 5:34:03, active time 4:54:06, average pace 12:46.

During the last marathon training cycle, I ran 23 miles in 5:15:34 @ 13:46 min/mile pace in the freezing cold. Today I ran it exactly 1 min per mile faster, in high humidity, and still felt great. Having cooler weather was a blessing.

1st 10 miles, 1/1 @ 13:14 avg pace
2nd 10 miles, 2/1 @ 12:29 avg pace
last 3 miles, 2:30/1 @ 11:55 avg pace

first half = 13:13 avg pace
second half = 12:16 avg pace

first mile = 13:51 avg pace
last mile = 12:00 avg pace

map and full splits: http://j.mp/r7L32z.

Next weekend is the Miracle Miles 15K, and I'm really excited to see what I can do. Bring it! =)